renewal – BibleJournal.net

Revival!

What an amazing revival! The Jewish people had been living in exile and returned to Jerusalem. They’ve not been following the ways of the Lord, let alone reading the scriptures. Isn’t this a beautiful picture? Ezra, a scribe, reads the scriptures (scrolls) and they are reminded of God’s ways, some maybe even hearing for the first time. Verse 7 tells us that Ezra had assistants or helpers that helped him teach and explain it to the large crowds of people.

I wonder what that looked like. Ezra was standing on the makeshift podium and were his helpers next to him…and after each section they would take turns expounding? Or did Ezra break the people into groups and they would have mini-small group discussions?

We know this is a revival because the people actively responded and turned their hearts toward the Lord. “And all the people answered Amen, Amen, and lifted up their hands” (verse 6), what a sight! They recognized how far they have fallen away from God and are weeping with remorse and sorrow for their sin.

What a picture of God’s grace… instead of them wallowing in their self destructive sin, God uses Ezra and calls them out of it. Go, be merry, celebrate your heart change, help others. Keep reading, keep celebrating! Nehemiah had just rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem, the people were reading the Word – what a time to celebrate! God doesn’t want us to be stuck in a pit of shame, self loathing, and guilt. He wants us to learn and use the joy of Him as our strength to move forward.

The very next morning they assembled again… and again, and again. Implementing and taking action on the things they heard and learned. They even began celebrating the Feast of Booths again – a practice that had been ignored for years and years – since the time of Joshua. They read and studied for hours, 8 consecutive days with joyful hearts – what a kickstart to renewing their spirits!

Don’t we need a revival like this? What would a revival look like:

- - - - In our world?
        
        In the United States?
        
        In our community?
        
        In our schools?
        
        In our church?
        
        In our family?
        
        In our own heart?

Will you join me in praying for a revival? In Psalm 51, after David falls into sin, he repents and asks the Lord to create in him a clean heart and renew a steadfast spirit in him. Whether you’re a new Christian, or have been following Jesus for quite some time, I’m guessing you have seasons that need renewing and reviving, I know I do! I’m going to pray for a desire to study God’s Word like Ezra’s group did…and for people to help me understand where I’m lacking. God is ready to revive our hearts and celebrate with us!

I love the fourth verse of this old hymn from William Mackay:

Revive Us Again

1 We praise thee, O God, for the Son of thy love,
For Jesus who died and is now gone above.

2 We praise thee, O God, for thy Spirit of light,
Who has shown us our Savior and scattered our night. [Refrain]

3 All glory and praise to the Lamb that was slain,
Who has borne all our sins and has cleansed ev’ry stain. [Refrain]

4 Revive us again – fill each heart with thy love;
May each soul be rekindled with fire from above.

Refrain:
Hallelujah, thine the glory!
Hallelujah, Amen!
Hallelujah, thine the glory!
Revive us again.

Mindset

I would venture to say that a fair number of us reading this either played sports or music at some point in our lives. As I read Ephesians 4, I’m so thankful for the playbook or sheet music God gives us as the blueprint for how to live our life. The Word is full of this, but another great chapter that parallels this is Romans 12. In fact, if you are looking for a good resource, our small group did a Bible study by Chip Ingram called True Spirituality on how to become what he calls a Romans 12 Christian and it could have just as easily been about becoming an Ephesians 4 Christian.

Kurt Dorner is the Chief Development Officer with our Central Illinois Northwestern Mutual office, and he is also someone I am blessed to call a mentor and friend. Kurt’s mantra is “Better Every Day” which I absolutely love and reminds me of Ephesians 4. Kurt embodies a “growth” mindset. Just over a year ago I read a book called Mindset by Carol Dweck which changed my life and hopefully will result in changing the life of my family and those I mentor and lead. Carol talks about how most of us have a “fixed” mindset which means we see a limit or cap on things. We think we are either good or bad at certain things. For example, many say, “I’m bad at math.” This holds us back in life. Carol discusses that the highly successful have a “growth” mindset. They believe with practice and focus they can improve at anything. They also view nothing as failure and everything as learning or growth with no fear of the future and believe there is no cap on what’s possible.

Ephesians 4 rings of a “growth” mindset. In Ephesians 4:1, Paul states, “I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” In Ephesians 4:12=13 he says God gave us leaders to “equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ until we attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” In Ephesians 4:15, he says, “…we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ.” Seriously?! Be like Jesus? He was without sin! I’m guaranteed to fail, right?

I have been a believer my whole life being blessed to grow up with my family raising me in the church (yes..there were still questions at times). However, nearly all my life I would say I still carried a “hardness of heart” Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4:18. Not only was I hard on myself with a “fixed” mindset focusing on my failures, but I also focused on and judged other for their sins thinking they were worse than mine without much empathy for the pain or troubles they may be experiencing now or have experienced in the past. Over the last 6 years, I have developed a relationship with Christ through more time in prayer, more time in the Bible, and in close community with fellow believers in a small group. I can see a renewing of my mind Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4:23 and Romans 12:2. I can see a softening of my heart as my relationship with Christ grows as Paul speaks of in Ephesians 4:24-32. I notice myself being more forgiving of others transgressions because Christ forgave me (Ephesians 4:33). Please take note that the verbs I used all included “ing” on the end of them. I’m nowhere near where God calls me to be, and I never will be. I sin every hour and likely every minute of every day. I desperately need a Savior in Jesus because even just one sin separates me from God without him (Romans 3:23 and Romans 6:23). It’s about the process of improving though by striving to be like Christ not to earn grace, but because of his grace. It’s about a “growth” and a “better every day” mindset.

In Ephesians 4:1, God urges us through Paul’s writing to step into this calling to grow to be more like Christ. He knows we will never reach it by our own works on this Earth. 2 Cor 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that we may become the righteousness of God.” Here in Ephesians 4:7 he says, “But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.” We will mess up many plays in the playbook of life, and we will miss many notes in our musical performance. However, 1 Corinthians 15:57 says,“But thanks be to God! He gives us victory (or a we could say a standing ovation) through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

All we have to do is believe in Him. For that free gift of grace I say God is good…wait…no…God is GREAT…all the time!

Restoration

A recent post by Mike Somers asked two great questions that challenged me, and hopefully challenged our readers as well:

What do you long to do each day?
What do you look forward to when you wake up each morning?

In line with those questions but adding a scenario: What do you long to do, or what do you look forward to when things in your life seem wrong or misaligned?

Numbers 36; Psalm 80; Isaiah 28; 2 John 1

Once in a while my route home takes me near the entrance to the emergency room at a local hospital. When slowly passing by I will see things like police cars, ambulances, concerned individuals rushing toward the door, and injured people seeking immediate medical attention. These symbols always remind me of times when either myself or someone I care about was not well. I don’t know about you, but when I’m sick, injured, or have a major issue, I don’t care about much else other than wanting to be well again; I seek restoration.

Psalm 80 is about restoration; not from illness but the relationship between God and his people. Three times it repeats a request to God for him to restore them; for His face to shine, that they may be saved (verses 3, 7, 19). So many of us seek restoration in things such as human relationships, physical and mental health, and finances. However, if we are not restored first and foremost with our creator, things will always seem off. He made us for a purpose, for relationship with him and to give him glory.

The Bible overall is a story about restoration between God and his people. In the beginning Adam and Eve had a close relationship with God, then came sin and the fall of mankind. This sin separated them and us from God, thus the need for restoration. The only way we can be restored is through faith in Jesus Christ; he can be our restorer if we so choose to follow him.

This week I had the opportunity to meet some amazingly gifted and humble individuals from a non-profit organization called Spread Truth. This organization has produced a captivating video that in just six minutes brings the story of the Bible to life through animated video, voice, and music. It is a simple story for all of us, one that starts in the beginning and ends in restoration. This video is a great evangelism tool to help spread the gospel. Check it out: Story4.us/jonbharris